China executes 11 members of mafia family

China has executed 11 members of a notorious mafia family that ran scam centres in Myanmar along its north-eastern border, the BBC writes, referring to state media.

The Ming family members were sentenced in September for various crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling dens by a court in China’s Zhejiang province.

The Mings were one of many clans that ran the town of Laukkaing, transforming an impoverished backwater town into a flashy hub of casinos and red-light districts.

Their scam empire came crashing down in 2023, when they were detained.

With these executions Beijing is sending a message of deterrence to would-be scammers. But the business has now moved to Myanmar’s border with Thailand, and to Cambodia and Laos, where China has much less influence.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to run online scams in Myanmar and elsewhere in South East Asia, according to estimates by the UN. Among them are thousands of Chinese people.